Here's why your customers are ignoring your marketing

Hello Content Creators!

We have seen people do amazing things...

Land on the moon.

Drive faster than 330mph on a public road.

DJ for 230 hours straight.

Run a sub-2 hour marathon. 

Become our first Black U.S. President...

...or our first bi-racial female Vice President (elect).

Free climb El Capitan in less than 24 hours.

Through it all, I see so many people saying “See, kids, look what they've accomplished. Anything is possible!”

But anything already was possible, right?

True, maybe. I like your attitude... Hold that thought.

We might be amazed by what people accomplish, but admiration doesn't always translate to inspiration. Or action. Or purchase.

If the role models we see don't "look like us", if we can't see ourselves in their shoes, then we're less likely to believe that we, too, could follow in their footsteps.

And if those role models are your brand ambassadors, as much as they may credit your product with helping them achieve their success, we won't believe your product will also help us achieve that same success.

We don't care what they're doing...

We care about what we are doing.

The problem with assuming any accomplished person (like a celebrity ambassador) will inspire a purchase is it assumes everyone's starting from the same place. The reality is, none of us are.

Our upbringing, age, education, family dynamic, race, income, and so many more factors all impact our mindset... our starting point.

(BTW, Great marketing, like Nike's You Can't Stop Us video [screenshot above] transcends these differences beautifully by intertwining the accomplishments and spirit of regular folks with superstars)

Example, please.

Imagine you're a shoe brand...like Nike.

Your marathon running ambassador, Amy, is starting at point (A), which includes altitude training, 10 years of consistent 100-mile weeks, and nine hours sleep every night. She's training daily for the marathon (Z), and pitching your latest shoes as her secret weapon.

Meanwhile, Susie just registered for the marathon (Z), but has a different starting point (B) that includes a full time job, family, and a wishful-thinking running history. She'll maybe get 2 runs in per week...maybe.

Susie might admire Amy's running speed, but thinks "Amy's not like me, those shoes won't make me run like Amy." So, your new shoes might help Susie crush that marathon, but Amy's story isn't convincing her of that.

It's one thing to say your product can help somebody reach a goal.

It's quite another to show how PEOPLE LIKE US can use your product to reach OUR goals.

Takeaway: Your marketing needs to show folks starting at B (and C, and D...) how to get to Z, too.

A Recent Content Project

This week, I rebooted my podcast, The Build Cycle. Episodes #70 and #71 just went live, the latter being an interview with Magma's co-founder Jake Warner.

Magma is a new app that lets you create digital magazines straight from your iPhone...and it's as easy as making an Instagram Story.

I'd encourage you to check it out, and think about how you could use it to extend your content marketing reach. Need ideas? Listen to Episode #71.

So, what's The Build Cycle? It's an "Entrepreneurship x Content Marketing" mashup that interviews founders of killer lifestyle brands, marketing experts, and more...all designed to help you build a business and grow your brand. Every episode is listed here, and it's available on all the top podcast players.

PRO TIP: You down with OPA?

Welcome to the new section that's ONLY for newsletter subscribers...I won't be putting these on my blog. This week's Pro Tip comes from Daniel Macauley, president/founder of Brandwave Marketing:

"The biggest thing is dissemination of content.

Doesn’t matter how big your brand is, it’s how well you’re able to hack your growth by taking advantage of OPA (Other Peoples’ Audiences).

Remember, influencers and content creators need constant content to “feed the beast”, so look at who’s complementary to your industry and work with them to help create content for their channels. Now you're reaching their audience, too!"

I pulled this snippet from a tidal wave (pun intended) of brilliant branding strategy Daniel shared with me, all of which will be in my upcoming "Guide to Using the Media to Grow Your Brand For You & Creating Content That Doesn't Suck". Title is a work in progress, stay tuned...

Cool Stuff I've Found

This week, it's all about self improvement...

3 Minute French - As you might suspect, I'm a fan of "bite sized" content, and these 3-minute French lessons from Kieran Ball are amazing. You can check out the first few free on YouTube. We've been doing them as a family, and his technique results in incredible recall...c'est absolument fantastique!

Athlean-X - The internet's rife with "fitness influencers", but this guy's the real deal. He combines smart, safe workouts with real knowledge about how the body works, and why you should or shouldn't do certain movements. I love the science-based workouts, and their team is fairly entertaining, too..

Senada Greca - While I'm in my annual winter bulking phase, my wife's been crushing the body weight movements from this Instagram star. What we love about her workouts are that they're full body, full movement with a big focus on hips and posterior chain (basically the things that die when we sit all day), and that you can literally do them anywhere.

It's time to get awesome,

Tyler Benedict

PS - Inspired? Could you take a little action and forward this email to a friend? Thanks!

*Any items, services, or products mentioned in these emails are provided solely because I think you'll like them. I don't sell this space, but some links might be affiliate links, which earns me a small commission (beer money, really) if you buy something. This helps support all the free content. Thanks!